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You can pretend that it isn’t the case if you’d like, but being unorganized at work really does affect your productivity. According to experts, people waste an estimated 30 minutes to an hour per day searching for something they need but can’t find at work!

Today, we will explore a few keys to having a productive workday. First, start by prioritizing tasks each day. Establish routines and schedules to to efficiently complete recurring tasks. Be very strategic about meetings, and always have an agenda to make the best use of your time and keep everyone on the same page. When making phone calls or emailing, have a plan. The average person wastes thirty minutes a day searching through emails.

Hard work is often the easy work you did not do at the proper time. -Bernard Meltzer

This week’s goals:

I. Make the first hour of your day really count. What is the one thing that you never have enough time for? Start a new habit of doing this task when you first arrive at work. If you usually spend this hour chatting with coworkers, set a break time to catch up or eat lunch together.

II. Start with a realistic plan. Identify the most important tasks for the day to dedicate time to completing, or making significant progress, on each one.

III. Batch like activities and tasks together. Visit the mailroom once per day. Try to make all your copies at the same time. Make most of your outgoing calls one right after the other.

IV. Use the last 20-30 minutes of your day to organize and prepare for the next day. Identify priorities, check your calendar for meetings and schedule your work around them.

V. Underpromise and overdeliver. Even if you think you can fulfill a request within a few hours, tell them the end of the day. When you deliver early, they’ll be thrilled! And, if any urgent requests come through that take you take you away from the task, or if it takes longer than expected, you’ll be covered. You’ll also have time to double-check your work!

Bonus tips:

Set your email account on preview mode so you can read the first few lines. This allows you to assess the urgency without opening it all the way. Additionally, place the most important part of your email in the first 3 lines. Include what you want or need. Many people use the preview setting to decide which emails to open. If the content is time sensitive, put the deadline in the subject.

When trying to decide the next task to tackle, ask these questions: 1)How much time do I have available right now? 2)What is the highest prioritized task I can fit into this timeframe?

A person is much more likely to attend one for your meetings again if you end on time or a little early.

Check back next Tuesday for more tips! If you have any questions, drop us a comment below or email us at hello@ujimasociety.com